Hired! Teacher Candidate Sarabeth Royer Hired at Athens Area High School! #psuaged16

To say Ms. Sarabeth Royer was “Tagged to Teach Ag” at an early age is an understatement.  Growing up on a dairy and poultry farm, her parents were her first teachers. Sarabeth's parents encouraged her, guided her, showed her, and let her learn on her own. As a teen, Sarabeth's Ag teachers took the reigns. “They believed in me before I believed in myself, and pushed me to try harder, go farther, and achieve more.”  Sarabeth has the opportunity to do just that at Athens High School where she has been hired as an Agricultural Educator!  Congratulations Sarabeth!

Ms. Sarabeth Royer & Mr. David Stienfelt

Athens is where Sarabeth student taught with the guidance of Mr. David Steinfelt, who she will now call a colleague, and teach alongside.  Sarabeth was hired as part time agriculture, part time science.  She was drawn to Athens even more after student teaching there. “I was just blown away by the community. While student teaching at Athens I felt very welcomed and I knew that I wanted to find a school that was as closely knit to their community. At first, I was very hesitant of teaching science part time, but realized that I really enjoy science and that there are so many teachers who teach subjects they weren’t originally planning on teaching! Plus, Biology and Agriculture are very much intertwined.” 

While at Penn State Sarabeth held animal science and international agriculture minors and was extremely involved in campus organizations including Teach Ag! Society, Poultry Science Club, Dairy Science Club and Navigators to name a few! She also served as an Ag Advocate for the College of Agricultural Sciences. These all led her to an incredible student teaching experience at Athens, where she really learned “it’s all about the students, the community and the small victories of everyday teaching.”  This will continue to serve her well. 

One of the many quotes Sarabeth lives by!

Athens Area High School is home to largest FFA chapter in Bradford County.  Mr. Steinfelt has classes in Introduction to Agriculture, Horticulture, Ag Mechanics I and II and SAE/FFA Leadership. Sarabeth will be teaching Animal Science and Veterinary Science along with some Biology classes. “This is exciting because in the past, the high school has primarily had Science teachers that taught Animal and Vet Science, so it will be nice to have two Ag Teachers at Athens.”  Sarabeth is excited to continue working with Mr. Steinfelt and the diverse and welcoming Athens community. From getting her FFA jacket through the PA FFA Alumni Jacket Campaign, to growing flowers, learning how to drive a  tractor and keeping records on her chores for her Supervised Agricultural Experience, she is ready to help her students do the same.  “I hope to always keep my classes relevant so having any type of certification for my students would be ideal. I also would LOVE to see that Athens Ag Program expand even more and embrace their everyday victories.”

To learn more about starting on the path to having a career that makes a positive impact on the lives of students across the globe by becoming an agricultural educator, please contact the agricultural teacher education program at teachag@psu.edu. Follow us on Twitter at TeachAgPSU, on Facebook, or on our blog.

Kayla Hack

Student Blogger

Twitter Handle: @hackkayla

2017 Agriculture Education Student Teacher